Physical Appearance of the Mane Six in the Shadow Wars · 4:25am Oct 9th, 2014
Introduction
As you all probably know, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic uses a computer-based Flash animation system which makes it extremely easy to have a lot of different Ponies with a wide repertoire of physical motions and facial expressions relatively cheaply. The disadvantage is that there are a limited number of basic physical models, which leads to a situation in which the same models get reused for numerous characters.
In consequence, most Ponies look much more similar in height and build than they would "really" be. So I thought I should here post my concept of how the Mane Six differ in appearance, and how they look to Pony eyes and noses.
Fluttershy is ectomorphic; she's very tall and slim, the tallest of the Mane Six before Twilight's Ascension. This is part of why she is considered the most beautiful of them by other Ponies; she has an aristocratic, fashion-model build which reminds the viewer of Princess Celestia. She is however the lightest member of the Mane Six because of her slimness and hollow bones. She's physically the weakest and least tough member of the group, though she gets stronger and harder to injure as she masters micro-Shfiting.
She normally smells a lot like her animals, including smells Ponies wouldn't like such as traces of carnivore waste products. Fortunately for Fluttershy, her aristocratic origins have given her an almost instinctive personal fastidiousness; she bathes frequently and uses perfumes when she's going to any social event. The need to eliminate these odors is one reason she really appreciates going to the spa with Rarity.
Her natural marescent is rather delicate to Pony nostrils, and quite attractive; she prefers to smell a bit flowery, and applies perfume delicately, as required to achieve the intended effect.
She doesn't bother to apply cosmetics when tending to her animals, but always does so when intending to go out among Ponies. She has a light and discerning touch in this manner; one of the skills Sweetwing Wind taught her daughter was to look pretty. Indeed, Fluttershy's skill in this regard is one of the "tells" that she's of high birth.
Rainbow Dash is an endomorph by Pegasus standards. She's short and extremely muscular, which is why she can match Applejack (a strong Earth Pony) in ground-based athletics. She is by Pony standards the least beautiful of the Mane Six, though most Ponies find her mane lovely. She weighs more than Fluttershy, and almost none of that is fat.
Dashie scorns paying too much attention to her appearance most of the time. She combs and brushes her hair so it doesn't get tangled, and takes her suppressors on time, and that's about it. Rainbow Dash generally smells a little bit sweaty, with just a hint of cloud vapor and rainbows. She has good hygiene, but doesn't really like perfumes; the sweat comes from a combination of athletic exercise and energetic mid-day napping.
Twilight Sparkle was before her Ascension fairly tall, the second tallest of the Mane Six. She had a somewhat ectomorphic build, with a fairly long neck and slim limbs, but she's not in absolutely top physical condition because her focus is on her mind rather than her body. She was pretty by Pony standards; and would have counted as the fourth most beautiful of the group.
Twilight has the normal habits of a young lady of the gentry, and as a matter of course maintains excellent personal hygiene and grooming except (very notably) when in the grip of an intellectual obsession). She bathes regularly, combs and brushes her hair, applies light cosmetics and a dab of scent, and in general does her minimum to make sure that one knows that she is female. She finds anything more rather boring, and only really makes an effort for a public appearance -- and for that, she will make a very serious effort -- it's a matter of her duty and the honor of the Lights to do no less.
After her Ascension, of course, she's started growing toward her eventual full Alicorn size. She's still very young by Alicorn standards; when she's finished growing (fifty or so years from now) she'll be around Luna's size -- perhaps a little shorter and chubbier than Luna, because she's not as powerful and she still focuses more on her mind than her body.
All Alicorns are incredibly beautiful by Pony standards (*), and their scent has a psychic component that makes them literally indescribable in normal olfactory terms, and even more alluring. Twilight is starting to smell like the most fascinating book one has ever found, just purchased and not yet opened or read. Twilight is, however, the least beautiful of the current four Alicorns, which is kind of like being the least beautiful of the top four Hollywood A-list stars.
Rarity is a bit shorter and naturally chubbier than Twilight Sparkle was before Ascending (which is to say she's a bit taller than average and naturally has a rather average build). She would run to fat if she didn't engage in a constant regimen of diet and exercise, part of which is martial arts training. (She is an extremely capable martial artist). As it is she has an athletic muculature. under a slight padding of fat which tends to make her more attractive.
She's canonically the third most beautiful of the Ponies by some standards, though whether one prefers her or Applejack is largely a matter of personal tastes. Unlike Fluttershy or Applejack, though, she manages to be this beautiful only by engaging in an hour-or-longer ritual of beauty care every day, augmented by visiting the spa several times a week.
Rarity elaborately styles her mane and tail, and applies elaborate cosmetics. She has the skill to make this look good instead of overdone. She also without fail uses a mixture of perfumes calculated to make herself very desirable. She has recently begun choosing perfumes calculated to complement Spike's scent, because it seems like the right thing to do given how often Spike's scent is all over her hide; what she doesn't realize is that in doing so she is mimicking what a Dragoness would naturally do when life-bonding. This is an example of her subconscious desires working in conjunction with her Talent for social manipulation.
The Little Purple Dude would disagree with my rankings here: he's convinced Rarity's the most beautiful, and Twilight the second most beautiful, of the Mane Six. He is very much biased in this matter, of course, in favor of his beloved and his sister.
Applejack is of above average height and extremely powerful build, with muscles visibly rippling under her hide with every motion. She is stronger than most stallions and even stronger than many Earth Pony stallions; and she is extremely athletic, agile and sure-footed. She's physically tough and shrugs off injuries that would lay out a lesser mare. Her beautiful blonde mane (combing, brushing and braiding it being among her few concessions to normal feminity), candid face and healthy body, make her the second or third most beautiful mare, depending on whether you prefer the Amazon or the more feminine appearance: AJ is an Amazon, Rarity more traditionally-feminine.
Applejack generally scorns cosmetics or perfumes, though she knows very well how to apply them, and will do so for social events. Her natural odor is very obviously female, and stallions find it very attractive even out of cycle. She takes some pride in this, even though it's mostly an annoyance to her because she is waiting for the return of one particular stallion.
Pinkie Pie is shorter than average (though her wild mane makes her look taller than average at first glance). She is chubby and lushly curvaceous. What is not entirely apparent unless one knows her is that she is well-muscled under the fat: she works and plays extremely hard and has the sort of strength you'd expect from somepony who used to move boulders for a living and now delivers cakes all around town. She's not as naturally tough as Applejack, but her ability to twist worldlines makes her extremely hard to severely injure. If you look under her coat you would discern lots and lots of little scars from what would have been fatal or crippling injuries diverted by her psychic abilities into mere ouchies, often spread over wide portions of her body. Most Ponies don't find her particularly beautiful, but she's extremely charismatic anyway because of her friendly disposition.
Pinkie Pie smells like mare and candy. When she tries perfumes, she generally winds up smelling even more like candy. This is true even when the perfumes shouldn't logically make her smell like candy. Pinkie bathes semi-regularly and brushes her hair, but her mane mostly styles itself. Sometimes in defiance of hairpieces and minor implications of physical law. Pinkie will sometimes apply cosmetics for social events, though they don't actually have much effect on her appearance (**), and it almost looks as if she's just shooting the "getting ready for the big party" scene for an unknown audience. The fact that she will often sing such songs at moments like this only increases the strength of this impression.
Conclusion
Ponies can vary a lot in terms of appearance from what the show directly presents. This should also be a guide to describing original characters.
What do you think?
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(*) Celestia designed the genotype to be hypercharismatic and hyperdominant, presenting super-stimuli to normal Ponies which convey, both subtly and otherwise, "This is the most amazing, beautiful and dominant mare you will ever meet." She is after all a master manipulator, who plays a very long game.
In consequence, an Alicorn can always get a date to the prom. Or two competing ones, as Cadance found out in her fillyhood.
(**) Including in secondary ways such as whether or not she leaves lipstick marks on objects her mouth touches. If it's dramatic or funny, such as when she was kissing Cheese Sandwich's picture at Twilight's Council, she will leave clear and obvious lipstick marks. If not so, very little. It's almost as if her body generates her own cosmetics upon demand.
I sort of always pictured Twilight as being ugly for a pony. She's a weird color (Purple? With dark blue hair? Those are evil night colors!) and doesn't take care of herself. I can see Rainbow Dash being down there, though. And making up for it with enthusiasm.
Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rarity do have to be the top three since they're the ones who are shown as being beautiful.
I believe you might want to switch that instance of her name with Rarity. Unless Fluttershy has been to the Mirror Pool recently.
I agree on Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie.
For Twilight, I always see her (pre-alicorn) as being average height and weight, and her figure maybe a little softer than average due to her usually sedentary lifestyle. I feel like most ponies would have seen her appearance as boring or plain. Now, as a young alicorn, I see her as going through a gawky period where she's taller but not graceful, and still (styling-wise) just as plain. Someday she might grow into some curves, become comfortable with herself, and do something more interesting with her mane, but she hasn't yet.
For Rainbow Dash, I've always seen her as short and thin but muscular, more built for dexterity than strength. If you notice, when she goes up against Applejack fairly, Applejack wins the rear leg strength challenges (and also uses them to save the bus as Mare-Do-Well) and Dash wins the foreleg strength challenges (and also regularly beats Applejack at hoofwrestling, as in The Ticket Master). This makes sense because, having her forelegs free when in the air, Dash does more with them, but that sort of strength seems unlikely to add the bulk that Applejack's more full-body-workout does. (Flying, on the other hand, seems extremely aerobic to me, which adds to seeing her as skinny.)
I also think the attractiveness is a lot more subjective among ponies than that. I tend to agree with your top three, but I think the order would vary widely among ponies-- most mares would put Fluttershy first, which is why she's good at modeling. Most stallions would probably be either Applejack or Rarity stallions, depending on if they prefer a more sturdy, old fashioned body (a mare with some meat on her bones) or a sculpted modern look.
On top of that, I think cultural cues also play into it. Rainbow Dash isn't physically attractive, but in my headcanon she's an exemplary pegasus, which counts for a lot in terms of desirability among pegasi, and makes her out of the league of most stallions. Rarity, on the other hand, comes from a very middle class family, making her less desirable to the upper class stallions she wants to impress (and combined with her physical looks puts her in danger of being used as a trophy or arm candy if one of her crushes was less than honorable.) On the other side of that, despite being plain, Twilight Sparkle has always been quite the catch just based on her relationships with Princess Celestia, Cadance, and Shining Armor.
2520052
On the one hoof, it creates a clone. On the other, it gives you that deep-down clean feeling, you know? :D
Get a fan artist.
I always found the idea the Pinkie was more attractive with her hair down (assuming of course that she still had a positive attitude because being sad ruins it) such as when her mane is thoroughly soaked to be pretty fun. OF course the fact that it is an even more attractive look for her is offset by the fact that it is exceedingly hard for her to pull it off (since when she is happy her mane is even more likely to go curly).
This is of course why she tried to go with straight hair for the gala. She wanted to make herself look extra attractive for such a big party but of course her excitement ruins it. Of course Pinkie is so excited that this minor issue is no barrier to her going or thinking she will enjoy the event (whereas some other ponies would have gotten upset due to the failure).
You didn't mention eyes, though. For some reason, I find a person's eyes to be very important. And honestly, if you based the ponies' beauty off their eyes, I would think Twilight, then Fluttershy, then Rarity, but it doesn't work like that. Though I would suppose, that with her hair straight, like when it's wet, Pinkie would seem a bit prettier. I think she's quite beautiful as is, though, but I think we have differing opinions on this.
I did find that hilarious, though. Seems like something Pinkie would do.
It's interesting how Rarity changed her perfumes because of Spike... and you capitalized Talent. Is her Talent similar to Celestia's? Social manipulation?
I may or may not mark this down for later drawing attempts. Probably only line art, and only when I'm not freaking out over where my homework is.
Can't really do "beauty" though.
2520143
I agree with you that I think Pinkie would be attractive though I do think that her typcial style hides it somewhat. Now I don't mean that in that she is unattractive but that her standard appearance is crafted for a different purpose. She is more about energy and fun and her looks show that. Many would probably think of her as cute or maybe the girl next door.
That is why I also agree with you about the straight hair for her. I think it would lend itself to a more sultry look that her poofy hair is less effective with (though it still can be). I also think it can be more formal which is not what Pinkie goes for but could be useful in certain situations.
2520049
Twilight's naturally a bit goofy-looking, as a Unicorn. (As an Alicorn, of course, all most Ponies see when they look at her is super-stimuli, resulting in extreme charisma and hyper-dominance). What converts this to prettiness are the habits and deportment resulting from her intelligence and having been raised in an upper-class family. This breaks down when she freaks out. (As an Alicorn, of course, her freakouts are terrifying save to her close friends, who are used to them).
2520052
Corrected the error -- thank you.
2520143
Rarity's actual Talent is that she is very good at sensing patterns and how complex linked systems can be changed by finding the right point to influence them. She expresses this in two primary forms: social manipulation, and gem-dowsing (she senses the manner in which the crystals affect local paramagnetic flows).
Because she is by now very strongly attracted to Spike, her Talent has hit on a way to bind him to her. She's doing this, subconsciously, even as she consciously is trying to avoid binding him to her.
Alicorn-potential Talents can be very dangerous.
2520104
I agree with you on Pinkie's mane.
Pinkie likes to look pretty in general, but she doesn't seem to be that much into appearances, either in herself or others. Her main priority seems to be that she wants to look like a fun Pony and hang out with fun Ponies.
2520196
It does not help that her mane literally does what it wants. Even when she tries to work with it it will just bounce back when happy (such as for the gala). I imagine that it will require a lot of effort to keep her hair down even if she wants.
Granted maybe that is a way you will know when she is really serious about trying to attract somebody when she can keep her hair down even when happy while trying to be attractive in that fashion.
2520179
You obviously put a lot of thought into this blog, so I'm glad I managed to help even just a minute amount. 
You're welcome.
2520192
I actually interpreted Trenderhoof's talent as something similar, using the physical pattern of argyle as a parallelism of the social patterns that he detects and publicizes. I bring this up because both make use of diamond shapes, and the similar symbology intrigues me.
In any case, very nice bit of headcanon. Thank you for it.
I can buy almost all of this, especially for Shy and Dash (with Bookplayer's addendum: Dash may be the least beautiful, but not necessarily the least attractive).
I'd flip-flop AJ and Rarity, though. I see AJ as a "girl next door" beauty, not runway material but far above plain. Her natural beauty is subdued by her workload: having essentially raised AB by herself while working the farm with Mac since childhood has left her rougher than she'd have been if she'd grown up in the suburbs. Her looks are still there, buried underneath calluses and farm-work scars and dust. Anyone seeing her knows how pretty she could be, which is one reason why (in my universe) Rarity finds her fascinating: AJ's like a prize diamond that she knows is there, buried just out of reach, and oh! what wonders she could work if she could only dig a little.
I also had Twilight as the shortest of the six, petite even by normal pony standards. This is why she had trouble flying in S4E01: it wasn't that she had wings (she'd practiced with wing spells before), but that she was trying to control them in concert with having a wholly new (much taller and more powerful) body. *
* I chalk her spiffy flying at the end of S3E13 up to adrenalin; we're never shown what I assume would've been her comically catastrophic landing, which is where S4E01/E02 pick up.
2520565
Oh, that's brilliant! I figured that Rarity's attraction toward Trend was based on his being a "kindred spirit" to herself (which he is in some ways) because of their both being middle-class types carving out niches for themselves in the upper crust through their wits, but you're right -- they may also have similar Talents!
2520170 I actually think she looks quite lovely however she is.
2520192 Apparently so... I'm guessing that eventually her sub-conscious will win that "battle". It probably already has, actually.
2520069
I agree with you on Rainbow Dash; in fact I think that among pegasi Rainbow Dash is more attractive than Fluttershy, though in pony culture in general Fluttershy would be much preferred. Fluttershy is more beautiful to everyone, but a lot of pegasi look at a beautiful pegasus the way a lot of human women look at beautiful men -- yeah, he's pretty to look at, but the ones they want to screw, or marry, are the more rugged-looking masculine dudes.
I think there's multiple beauty standards in pony culture because pony culture isn't just one thing. There's three different races, who prioritize things differently, and then even within those there are multiple sub-cultures. So for instance, the unicorn middle class and the earth pony merchant class probably have more in common with each other than the earth pony merchant class has with the earth pony farming class. And highly active unicorn subcultures (say, unicorn tradesponies like plumbers and carpenters, which are probably much higher status professions in Equestria than on Earth due to the heavy use of magic) would value different things than sedentary unicorn cultures where high intelligence might be valued more highly than evidence of being physically active.
The "beauty industry", the fashion industrial complex, is probably based on alicorn looks and unicorn nobility, because in pretty much any culture with royalty or nobility, they have disproportionate influence on what's considered the beauty standard. So tall, slender and delicate, perfectly coiffed and perfumed, and probably a preference for brighter colors given that Celestia has been the dominant princess for 1000 years. Fluttershy and Rarity both fall into this archetype more than any of the others. Applejack is a shining star within her particular subculture; I suspect that by the standards of the fashion industry, though, she's entirely a diamond in the rough, someone who's tall and bright enough that if she was styled and if she'd move with delicacy and ladylike deportment she could be beautiful. To the more militaristic/athletic parts of pegasus culture, Fluttershy is beautiful but weak, Rarity is totally fake, and Applejack and Rainbow Dash would both be considered attractive, but Rainbow Dash moreso because she fits pegasus standards better (obviously).
All of them would probably be seen by many, many ponies as desirable mates. Twilight Sparkle has high social status, high intelligence, and powerful magic; unicorn middle class and upper class would drool over her. Pinkie Pie has high social status in earth pony circles, as a pony who literally knows every pony in town, and has a friendly, attainable girl-next-door look to her (though if you meet her you realize she's much more of a Manic Pixie Dream Girl, or maybe a Cloud Cuckoolander). Applejack also has high social status among earth ponies, being a member of the powerful Apple Clan and a descendant of the founder of Ponyville. Rarity is wealthy and sophisticated. Rainbow Dash is famed for her athletic prowess. Fluttershy is beautiful, and endlessly kind and patient. Where they would rank with an individual pony probably depends a lot on that pony.
2535697
This is a valuable insight and adds a multi-dimensionality to the concept of Pony standards of beauty. I'd done an essay about the likely class structure of Equestria, and of course there would also be difference between classes by Kind.
I think you're right -- Rainbow Dash plugs into Pegasi standards of beauty, while Fluttershy is a bit too delicate-looking (and almost as importantly acting -- there are ways she could have that tall, slender build and still look athletic and bold, but instead she looks retiring and weak -- you can see it very plainly in the series with her normally-submissive body language). I think that I realized this implicitly in the scenes where they regard each other -- Rainbow Dash admires the way in which Fluttershy looks like her concept of high nobility (which is largely a Unicorn and upper-class Earth Pony standard), while Fluttershy admires the way in which Rainbow Dash exemplifies the Pegasus warrior ideal. You, however, stated this explicitly and made me see what I was doing in these descriptions.
You see this in the similarities of the mannerisms and style of Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon with Sweetie Belle (Earth Pony merchant and Unicorn middle classes respectively) as opposed to Apple Bloom. Apple Bloom actually is an Earth Pony, but she has less in common in terms of style with DT and Silver Spoon than they do with Sweetie Belle.
An interesting example of this in canon is Rarity, who comes out of the unicorn lower-middle classes but wants to ascend to the upper or upper-middle classes. She usually manifests an upper-middle class or higher style, but in moments of stress reverts to pure lower-middle class. And she's actually quite athletic, with her excuse being that "a lady has to be able to defend herself from ruffians."
Twilight Sparkle, of course, isn't particularly athletic. She handles problems with a combination of superior intellect and magical might. What's interesting about her in comparison with Rarity is that Twilight was born into the very class to which Rarity hopes to ascend. Within a few years, it's going to occur to Rarity that there's an easy if unconventional way she can actually marry into Twilight's family.
I rather like that phrase -- I have images of "weapons of mass beautification."
(*nods*) And in more egalitarian cultures, such as modern America, celebrities -- many of whom are of the upper and upper-middle classes -- fill that role.
This is one of the reasons why Twilight would now be regarded as beautiful or at least very pretty -- she actually is an Alicorn. She's the least outwardly impressive of the four known Alicorns, but as I said, that's like being "only" the fourth most beautiful A-List movie actress -- she's still awesomely attractive by normal standards.
I would guess that Applejack would be seen as very beautiful by both Earth Ponies and Pegasi, given her athleticism and endurance, both of which would be obvious from the way she moved. And Trenderhoof certainly liked her -- and his admiration for her appearance was all the more pure in that he was totally ignoring her personality. (A sort of "purity" with which Applejack could have done without, as he was actually ignoring her best aspects and substituting a stereotype).
AJ's heavily-built by Pegasus standards; she doesn't, after all, have to be light enough for agile flight. If she were a Pegasus she'd be an outlier. (Bulk Biceps is probably the biggest-bodied Pegasus stallion one ever meets, and I assume that he can only fly well because he has an immensely strong flight field). Rainbow Dash is in many ways an exemplary Pegasus.
Oh, yes. Which is why I think fanfic writers who see them as desperate for love because none of them have any mates in canon are missing the point -- if they lack mates, it's because they are patient and their standards high, not because they lack for admirers. The only one of them who this remotely seems to bother is Rarity, and she explicitly has very high standards in that regard.
(*nods*) That's why I think it's such a big deal for her when she realizes Cheese Sandwich is not her foe. He's probably the only male in that world who both understands and very much likes her.
I have always thought Rarity as fairly tall and very skinny, akin to Coco Chanel. I see her as not very beautiful but absolutely charming and charismatic, able to make everyone look at her with simple yet elegant movements of her body. She commands attentions without really trying. I feel she is acutely aware of her best sides and knows very well how to present those to society.
(Also their stories are fairly similar. Coco Chanel too was lower middle class or even lower class and pulled herself up the class structure with her fashion business)
2556052
Yes. Rarity's beauty is a combination of cosmetics, grooming, attire and mannerisms. By contrast, Applejack doesn't even need to try at all, and Fluttershy only needs to minimally groom herself in order to be stunning.
... and note the name of one of Rarity's friends.